Windows XP n Vista Tricks Windows XP n Vista Tricks This smart collection of insider tips and tricks covers the XP + Vista operating system from start to finish including all the new features that come with Service Pack 2 Youll also find timesaving hacks . Articles
Hack 9. Control the Control Panel
2007-08-20 16:52:00 Whether you're a fan of the new Control Panel or not, there's a lot you can do to make it more palatablelike hiding applets you never use, recategorizing the ones you do use, and displaying all applets in a simple-to-use cascading menu. When I first started using XP, one of the things that annoyed me most was its new Control Panel . Yes, the big new icons for running applets are certainly pretty, but the Control Panel's several-layer organization forces you to click far too many times to get to the applet you want. And its clutter of applets that I rarely, if ever, use makes it even more difficult and confusing. My first reaction was to click the Switch to Classic View button to do away with the new design, but the Classic View has its problems as well: its long, alphabetized list of thumbnails is just as difficult to navigate as the new Control Panel. The solution? Start by cleaning up the Control Panel, hiding applets that you rarely, if ever, use. Note that when you... More About: Windows X , Hack
Hack 8. Customize the GUI with Tweak UI
2007-08-20 16:47:00 Want to bend XP's interface to your will without getting your hands into the Registry or having to excavate through menus three levels deep? Then get this supremely useful freebie from Microsoft and create your own customized version of XP. There are countless ways to customize XP's interface, including Registry hacks and menus and options hidden four layers deep. But if you're the kind of person who lives in the express lane, juices up on double espressos, and wants to hack away at the interface fast, you need Tweak UI. Download Tweak UI for free from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/do wnloads/powertoys.asp. It's part of a suite of free, unsupported utilities from Microsoft called XP PowerToys, but it's far and away the best one.Tweak UI lets you tweak not only the interface, as the title suggests, but also many other system settings, such as how Internet Explorer's search works, whether to automate your logon upon system startup, and ... More About: Windows X , Hack , The G
Hack 7. Control User Logins by Hacking the Registry
2007-08-20 16:45:00 Make better use of the XP login screen. If your system contains more than one user account, or if you've set up XP to require logins, you'll have to log in to XP before you can begin to use it. But you needn't stay with the default XP login rules; you can use a single Registry key to customize how you log in. For example, you can display custom text before login, and you can remind anyone with an account on the PC to change their password a certain number of days prior to the password's expiration. To control logon options, run the Registry Editor [Hack #83] and go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindow s NTCurrentVersion Winlogon subkey, which contains a variety of logon settings (as well as some settings not having to do directly with logons). Following are the most important values you can edit to customize logons. DontDisplayLastUser Name This setting lets you control how the system logon dialog box is used. If this String value is present and set ... More About: Windows X , Control
Hack 6. Miscellaneous Startup and Shutdown Hacks
2007-08-20 16:42:00 Here's a grab bag of ways to customize the way you start up and shut down your system. You can control the way you start up and shut down your PC in many small ways. This grab bag of four hacks shows you the best of them. 1.7.1. Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts Turning off or rebooting XP involves a several-step process: click the Start menu, choose Shut Down, and then select Shut Down or Restart. If you want, however, you can exit or reboot much more quickly, by creating a shortcut that enables one-click shutdowns. You can also use the shortcut to customize the shutdown or rebootfor example, by displaying a specific message or automatically shutting down any programs that are running. First, create a shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking the desktop, choosing New, and then choosing Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. In the box asking for the location of the shortcut, type shutdown. After you create the shortcut, double-clicking it will shu... More About: Hacks , Windows X , Hack , Startup
Hack 5. Create Multiple Startup Profiles with Advanced Startup Manager
2007-08-20 16:37:00 If you need to start different programs on startup, depending on what you need to do on your PC, create different startup profiles with this startup utility. With the hacks covered in this chapter, you can customize how XP starts up. But there's one thing these hacks won't be able to do for youcreate different startup profiles. For that, you need downloadable software. Let's say, for example, you have a laptop that you sometimes run attached to a keyboard, monitor, and an always-on Internet connection, and other times you travel with it, so it is not connected to the Internet. When you use it when you travel, you use it primarily in airplanes, airports, and other places where you typically aren't connected to the Internet. You also run a piece of monitoring software that will send a signal to a call center if your laptop is stolen. You don't need to run that software when you're not on the road. Ideally, you would have one set of programs that run automatically at... More About: Windows X , Hack , Manager , Profiles , Startup
Hack 4. Halt Startup Programs and Services
2007-08-20 12:39:00 Increase your PC's performance and speed up startup times by shutting off applications and services that you don't need. One of the best ways to speed up your PC without having to spend money for extra RAM is to stop unnecessary programs and services from running whenever you start your PC. When too many programs and services run automatically every time you start up your system, startup itself takes a long time, and too many programs and services running simultaneously can bog down your CPU and hog your memory. Some programs, such as antivirus software, should run automatically at startup and always run on your computer. But many other programs, such as instant messenger software, serve no purpose by being run at startup. And while you need a variety of background services running on your PC for XP to function, there are many unnecessary services that run on startup. For example, on many systems, the Wireless Zero Configuration Service runs to automatically configure... More About: Services , Windows X , Programs , Hack , Startup
Hack 3. Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times
2007-08-20 12:31:00 Shorten the time it takes for your desktop to appear when you turn on your PC, and make XP shut down faster as well. No matter how fast your PC boots, it's not fast enough. Here are several hacks to get you right to your desktop as quickly as possible after startup. 1.4.1. Perform a Boot Defragment There's a simple way to speed up XP startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster. On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled on your system, run the Registry Editor [Hack #83] and go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfr gBootOptimizeFunctionEdit the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y. Exit the Registry and reboot. The next time you reboot, you'll do a... More About: Windows X , Speed , Times
Hack 2. Change the Picture That Appears on the XP Startup Screen
2007-08-20 12:23:00 You're not stuck with XP's default splash logo on the startup screen; use any picture or logo of your choosing. One of the nice things about XP is how malleable it is. Don't like the way it looks? No problem; change it. Take my splash screen, please! The techniques in this hack work only with versions of XP before SP2. If you have SP2, they won't work, and they could harm your system. If you have SP2 and want to change your boot screen, your best bet is to use downloadable software, such as Style XP from Tgtsoft at http://www.tgtsoft.com/download.php.Many people, myself included, would prefer to see a more interesting splash screen (also called the startup screen) than the default gives you on startup. You can change your splash screen to any of hundreds that have been created, or make one of your ownfor example, with your picture or company logo on it. To choose from already created splash screens, go to http://www.themexp.org and click Boot Screen s. You... More About: Windows X , Change , Picture , Hack
Hack 1. Customize Multiboot Startup Options
2007-08-20 12:15:00 Edit or create a startup menu that lets you choose which operating system to boot into in multiboot systems, or create a menu that lets you choose different startup options for your single operating system if you have only XP installed. If you've installed another operating system (in addition to XP) on your system, your PC starts up with a multiboot menu, which allows you to choose the operating system you want to run. The menu stays live for 30 seconds, and a screen countdown tells you how long you have to make a choice from the menu. After the 30 seconds elapse, it boots into your default operating system, which is generally the last operating system you installed. You can customize that multiboot menu and how your PC starts by editing the boot.ini file, a hidden system file, to control a variety of startup options, including how long to display the menu, which operating system should be the default, whether to use the XP splash screen when XP starts, and similar fea... More About: Windows X , Hack , Options , Startup , Boot
Get More Hard-Disk Space by Using NTFS Compression
2007-08-15 09:48:00 The quickest and easiest way to give your system more room is to use XP's built-in compression scheme for NTFS disks. Here's how to use itand how to convert your existing disk to NTFS if it doesn't already use it.If you need more hard-disk space, don't buy another hard disk right away. First, consider using NTFS (NT File System) compression, which can give significantly more hard-disk space by compressing all the files on your PC. NTFS's on-the-fly compression capabilities can shrink the size of individual files and folders, or entire drives. When you use it, the files or folders will be compressed when they're on your hard disk to save space, but they will be decompressed automatically when you use them, and then compressed again when stored on your hard disk. This means that, unlike with a compression program such as WinZip (http://www.winzip.com), you don't have to deal with decompressing as well as compressing files. You can also easily turn compression on and off.Note th... More About: Space , Compression , Disk , Hard , Hard Disk
Edit File Association Actions
2007-08-14 09:52:00 You can use Windows Explorer to change how XP handles file types; for example, you can choose the default action when the file type is double-clicked, choose the application associated with the file type, choose the icon for the file type, and choose whether the extension should be displayed or hidden in Windows Explorer. To perform most of these actions, choose Tools Folder Options File Types, choose the file type for which you want to customize an action, and then click Advanced. You'll see the screen shown in Figure 3-13.Figure 3-13. Edit ing file associations and their actionsFrom the Edit File Type dialog box, you can change the icon, edit the action to be taken on the file, and choose whether to display the file type in Windows Explorer. The dialog box is fairly self-explanatory. For example, click Change Icon to change the icon; to edit any action, highlight it and click Edit. If you want to change the application associated with the file, choose Tools Folder Options File... More About: Association
Add Shortcut Menu Items to Specific File Types
2007-08-14 09:48:00 When you right-click a file in Explorer, you get a shortcut menu that includes a list of programs with which you can open the file. But the programs you want to open those files might not always be on the shortcut menu. It's easy to add new programs to that list. Let's say you want to add a shortcut menu item that allows .gif files to be opened with the freeware graphics viewer IrfanView . From Windows Explorer, choose Tools Folder Options File Types . In the Registered File Types list, select the file type for which you want to add a new shortcut menu item. In our example, we'll choose a GIF file. After this hack, any time you click a file of this type, you'll get a new choice to open the file with.Once you've chosen your file type, choose Advanced New. You'll see the New Action dialog box shown in Figure 3-12.Figure 3-12. Adding a new program to the shortcut menuIn the New Action box, type the text you want to appear on the shortcut menufor example, Open with IrfanView. In... More About: Items , Menu , Specific
Change the Text of Internet Explorer's Titlebar
2007-08-14 04:23:00 Internet Explorer's titlebar displays the text "Microsoft Internet Explorer," along with the title of the page you're currently visiting. However, you can change the "Microsoft Internet Explorer" text to any text you want. Run the Registry Editor and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInte rnet ExplorerMainAdd a new string value named Window Title and give it a value of whatever text you want displayed in the titlebar. Exit the Registry and close Internet Explorer if it's open. The next time you open Internet Explorer, the titlebar will have your new text.If you want your titlebar to have no text in it, aside from the title of the page you're currently visiting, create the Window Title string value but leave the Value field empty. More About: Internet , Internet Explorer , Change , Text , Chang
Change the Text of Internet Explorer's Titlebar
2007-08-14 04:23:00 Internet Explorer's titlebar displays the text "Microsoft Internet Explorer," along with the title of the page you're currently visiting. However, you can change the "Microsoft Internet Explorer" text to any text you want. Run the Registry Editor and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInte rnet ExplorerMainAdd a new string value named Window Title and give it a value of whatever text you want displayed in the titlebar. Exit the Registry and close Internet Explorer if it's open. The next time you open Internet Explorer, the titlebar will have your new text.If you want your titlebar to have no text in it, aside from the title of the page you're currently visiting, create the Window Title string value but leave the Value field empty. More About: Internet , Internet Explorer , Change , Text , Chang
Change the Internet Explorer Logo
2007-08-14 04:22:00 Internet Explorer has both a static and an animated logo. The static logo displays when the browser is inactive, and the animated logo displays when the browser is locating a site, connecting, and actively downloading pages or images from the Web. Because you have the choice of displaying large or small icons on the Internet Explorer toolbar (to switch back and forth between the two, choose View Toolbars Customize Icon Options Large/Small icons), there are two sizes of both the static and animated logos.Before you begin, you'll need to create new logos to replace the existing ones. You'll have to create two sets of icons in .bmp format: one set for the smaller logo and another set for the larger logo. Each set will have a static logo and an animated logo. The static logos should be 22 22 pixels for the smaller size and 38 38 pixels for the larger size. The animated logos have to be animated bitmaps, each of which should have a total of 10 frames. So, the smaller animated bitma... More About: Internet , Internet Explorer , Change , Logo
Put a Command-Line Prompt on Your Desktop
2007-08-13 04:21:00 Command-line junkies always want the command prompt within easy reach. Here's how to put a command prompt directly on your desktop, so it's there whenever you need it.If you use the command line regularlyfor example, to launch Windows Explorer with shortcuts you'd like the command line within easy reach. In fact, you'd like it right on your desktop. XP has no built-in way to do that for you.But there's a great free program called MCL (http://www.mlin.net/MCL.shtml) that runs as a small command line you can put anywhere on your desktop, as shown in Figure 3-22.Figure 3-22. Putting the command line right on your desktop with MCLUse it as you would use the normal command line, including any normal switches that you use to launch programs.But MCL does more than just let you enter commands. It includes a number of other goodies that the XP command prompt doesn't, including these:It keeps a history of your last 100 commands, so you can easily reenter or edit any commands you've al... More About: Desktop , Line , Command , Prompt
Find Files Faster by Mastering the Indexing Service's Query Language
2007-08-13 04:14:00 Got a hard disk filled with many files, and no easy way to find what you want quickly? Use the Indexing Service and its query language to get what you wantfast.Packrats like me (and my editor) have a hard time finding exactly what they want on their hard disks. I have thousands of files there, some dating back close to 10 years, which I dutifully copy to a new system every time I upgrade my hardware. After all, who knows when I might need to find the list of books I planned to take out of the library in 1996?XP's Search Companion is too slow and the kinds of searches it can perform are fairly limited. It can't find files based on properties such as when the file was last printed or the word count of a file, or using a sophisticated search language.The Indexing Service, first used with Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), is a far more powerful tool. It can perform searches hundreds of times faster and includes an exceedingly sophisticated query language you can use for p... More About: Find , Language , Files , Windows Explorer , Teri
Remove "Uninstallable" XP Utilities
2007-08-12 08:58:00 Think you can't uninstall Windows Messenger, WordPad, and similar components? Think again. This hack shows you how.Windows has always had a problem with uninstalling software, and it's particularly poor at uninstalling its own utilities, such as WordPad or Windows Messenger. Uninstall ing these utilities can free up hard-disk space if your hard disk is starting to fill up. And if you never use Windows Messenger, you most likely will want to uninstall it because the program frequently launches itself automatically even after you've shut it down repeatedly, kind of like Dracula returning from the dead. It won't bother you any longer if you uninstall it.To remove XP utilities and components, you normally choose Control Panel Add or Remove Programs Add/Remove Windows Components to get to the Windows Components Wizard, shown in Figure 2-12. To uninstall a utility or component, just follow the wizard's instructions.Figure 2-12. The Windows Components WizardAh, but there's a catch. ... More About: Utilities , Alla
Hide Only Certain Icons in the Notification Area
2007-08-12 08:53:00 You might want to display some icons in the notification area but hide others. If so, you can hide icons on a case-by-case basis. You'll do it by delving through menus, though, not by hacking the Registry. Right-click the taskbar and choose Properties Taskbar. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears. This dialog box, as the name implies, lets you control how the taskbar and Start menu look and function.In the Notification area of the dialog box, check the box next to "Hide inactive icons," then click Customize. The Customize Notifications dialog box appears.Figure 2-9. Hiding inactive iconsClick the program's listing in the Behavior column, and choose from the drop-down menu to hide the icon when the program is inactive, to always hide it, or to never hide it (see Figure 2-9). Click OK twice. Your changes will take effect immediately. More About: Icons , Area , Cons , Cert
Hide All Icons in the Notification Area
2007-08-12 08:52:00 The system tray, also called the notification area, is the small area on the far-right side of the taskbar, in which utilities and programs that run in the background, such as antivirus software, show their icons.I don't find it a particularly intelligent use of screen real estate, so I prefer not to see the icons there. To hide them, run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Wind ows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer. Among other things, this key controls the display of objects throughout XP. Create a new DWORD called NoTrayItemsDisplay. Assign it a value of 1. (A value of 0 will keep the icons displayed.) Exit the Registry and reboot.While you're at the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Wind ows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer key, you can also delete the My Recent Documents icon on the Start menu. Create a new DWORD called NoRecentDocsMenu. Assign it a value of 1. (A value of 0 will keep the icon displayed.) Exit the Registry and reboot More About: Icons , Area , Cons , Hide
Display Control Panel Applets in a Cascading Menu
2007-08-11 13:50:00 If you're a "just the facts, ma'am" type, you'll want to bypass the Control Panel altogether. Rather than clicking effete icons, you can instead force XP to display Control Panel applets in a cascading menu when you choose Control Panel from the Start button, as shown in Figure 2-4.Figure 2-4. Turning the Control Panel into a cascading menu for quick access to appletsTo force the Control Panel to display as a cascading menu, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties Start Menu . Click the Customize button and choose the Advanced tab. In the Control Panel heading, choose "Display as a menu." Click OK twice.
Hide Unused Applets with XP Pro's Group Policy Editor
2007-08-11 13:43:00 If you have XP Professional, you don't need to get your hands dirty with the Registry to hide unused applets; instead, you can use XP Professional's exceedingly useful Group Poli cy Editor to accomplish the same task. The Group Policy Editor is primarily used for setting network and multiuser policies and rights, but it can also be used to customize the way XP looks and works. (For example, to use it to hack away at the Start menu and taskbar, see [Hack #10] .) Run the Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc at the Run prompt or command line.Once you've run it, go to User ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesControl Panel, the section that handles the Control Panel. As you can see when you get there, you can do a lot more than hide the Control Panel's unused applets in this section of the Group Policy Editor; you can also control many other aspects of how the Control Panel looks and functions.Now right-click "Show only specified Control Panel applets," and choose Properties. Y...
Hide Unused Applets with the Registry
2007-08-11 13:40:00 Whether you're a fan of the new Control Panel or not, there's a lot you can do to make it more palatablelike hiding applets you never use, recategorizing the ones you do use, and displaying all applets in a simple-to-use cascading menu.When I first started using XP, one of the things that annoyed me most was its new Control Panel. Yes, the big new icons for running applets are certainly pretty, but the Control Panel's several-layer organization forces you to click far too many times to get to the applet you want. And its clutter of applets that I rarely, if ever, use makes it even more difficult and confusing.My first reaction was to click the Switch to Classic View button to do away with the new design, but the Classic View has its problems as well: its long, alphabetized list of thumbnails is just as difficult to navigate as the new Control Panel.The solution? Start by cleaning up the Control Panel, hiding applets that you rarely, if ever, use. Note that when you hide the apple... More About: Registry , Hide , Regis
Customize the GUI with Tweak UI
2007-08-11 13:30:00 Want to bend XP's interface to your will without getting your hands into the Registry or having to excavate through menus three levels deep? Then get this supremely useful freebie from Microsoft and create your own customized version of XP.There are countless ways to customize XP's interface, including Registry hacks and menus and options hidden four layers deep. But if you're the kind of person who lives in the express lane, juices up on double espressos, and wants to hack away at the interface fast, you need Tweak UI. Download Tweak UI for free from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/do wnloads/powertoys.asp. It's part of a suite of free, unsupported utilities from Microsoft called XP PowerToys, but it's far and away the best one.Tweak UI lets you tweak not only the interface, as the title suggests, but also many other system settings, such as how Internet Explorer's search works, whether to automate your logon upon system startup, and whether to enable CD au... More About: Custom , The G
Create Multiple Startup Profiles with Advanced Startup Manager
2007-08-11 04:15:00 If you need to start different programs on startup, depending on what you need to do on your PC, create different startup profiles with this startup utility.With the hacks covered in this chapter, you can customize how XP starts up. But there's one thing these hacks won't be able to do for youcreate different startup profiles. For that, you need downloadable software.Let's say, for example, you have a laptop that you sometimes run attached to a keyboard, monitor, and an always-on Internet connection, and other times you travel with it, so it is not connected to the Internet. When you use it when you travel, you use it primarily in airplanes, airports, and other places where you typically aren't connected to the Internet. You also run a piece of monitoring software that will send a signal to a call center if your laptop is stolen. You don't need to run that software when you're not on the road.Ideally, you would have one set of programs that run automatically at home and anothe... More About: Manager , Profiles , Startup , Manage , Create
Halt Startup Programs and Services
2007-08-11 04:04:00 Increase your PC's performance and speed up startup times by shutting off applications and services that you don't need.One of the best ways to speed up your PC without having to spend money for extra RAM is to stop unnecessary programs and services from running whenever you start your PC. When too many programs and services run automatically every time you start up your system, startup itself takes a long time, and too many programs and services running simultaneously can bog down your CPU and hog your memory.Some programs, such as antivirus software, should run automatically at startup and always run on your computer. But many other programs, such as instant messenger software, serve no purpose by being run at startup. And while you need a variety of background services running on your PC for XP to function, there are many unnecessary services that run on startup. For example, on many systems, the Wireless Zero Configuration Service runs to automatically configure a WiFi (802.11... More About: Services , Programs , Startup , Grams , Gram
Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times
2007-08-10 19:28:00 Shorten the time it takes for your desktop to appear when you turn on your PC, and make XP shut down faster as well.No matter how fast your PC boots, it's not fast enough. Here are several hacks to get you right to your desktop as quickly as possible after startup.1.4.1. Perform a Boot DefragmentThere's a simple way to speed up XP startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster.On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled on your system, run the Registry Editor [Hack #83] and go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfr gBootOptimizeFunctionEdit the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y. Exit the Registry and reboot. The next time you reboot, you'll do a boot defragment... More About: Speed , Times , Shut , Speed up
Change the Picture That Appears on the XP Startup Screen
2007-08-10 19:24:00 You're not stuck with XP's default splash logo on the startup screen; use any picture or logo of your choosing.One of the nice things about XP is how malleable it is. Don't like the way it looks? No problem; change it. Take my splash screen, please! The techniques in this hack work only with versions of XP before SP2. If you have SP2, they won't work, and they could harm your system. If you have SP2 and want to change your boot screen, your best bet is to use downloadable software, such as Style XP from Tgtsoft at http://www.tgtsoft.com/download.php. Many people, myself included, would prefer to see a more interesting splash screen (also called the startup screen) than the default gives you on startup. You can change your splash screen to any of hundreds that have been created, or make one of your ownfor example, with your picture or company logo on it.To choose from already created splash screens, go to http://www.themexp.org and click Boot Screen s. You'll find more than 1,000... More About: Change , Picture , Startup , Pears
Customize Multiboot Startup Options
2007-08-10 19:06:00 Edit or create a startup menu that lets you choose which operating system to boot into in multiboot systems, or create a menu that lets you choose different startup options for your single operating system if you have only XP installed.If you've installed another operating system (in addition to XP) on your system, your PC starts up with a multiboot menu, which allows you to choose the operating system you want to run. The menu stays live for 30 seconds, and a screen countdown tells you how long you have to make a choice from the menu. After the 30 seconds elapse, it boots into your default operating system, which is generally the last operating system you installed.You can customize that multiboot menu and how your PC starts by editing the boot.ini file, a hidden system file, to control a variety of startup options, including how long to display the menu, which operating system should be the default, whether to use the XP splash screen when XP starts, and similar features. And as ... More About: Options , Startup , Opti , Custom , Boot
Remove Context Menu Items from Explorer
More articles from this author:2007-07-24 11:54:00 Explorer's menus can get messy at times. But you can use a Registry hack to clean it up a bit by removing two items from the Tools menu: Map Network Drive and Disconnect Network Drive. Run the Registry Editor and go to:HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWind owsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorerCreate the DWORD entry NoNetConnectDisconnect. Give it a value of 1. Exit the Registry. You might have to reboot for the setting to take effect and the items to disappear from the menu. To place the items back on the Explorer menu, edit the value to 0, or delete the entry. More About: Explorer , Items , Menu , Context , Xplorer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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